sangria | Fitness is Sweet

Happy Halloween weekend! I’m currently sitting at the airport. I arrived at my terminal nearly 2 hours before my flight was supposed to leave…definitely expected things to take longer! So I figure, why not blog my Friday and Saturday?

Friday morning started the way it normally does, with Crossfit. We did back squats, for long sets (which stink). Then an EMOM of 5 burpee pull ups on even minutes, and 10 wall balls on odd.

I had a festive breakfast afterwards—pumpkin yogurt with cinnamon granola and sunbutter.

For lunch, I made a salad with hummus, goat cheese, champagne vinaigrette, and a microwave egg because I’m not cooking in the morning. My new tip for microwaving an egg is to rub a little olive oil on the bottom of the bowl, because the egg slides out much more easily then! Plus crackers.

This was my afternoon:

After work, my coworkers and I had plans to go to dinner and then to a haunted house. On the way to dinner, we got stuck in insane traffic. What should have been a 10 minute drive turned into over an hour of standstill.

After sitting for an hour, I was texting my mom asking if she knew what was going on (I heard it was something political) and apparently Joe Biden was there? I asked where the event was, and she told me “The Pageant.” I asked my friend where that was….and she pointed right up. Apparently we were right in front of it!

When we FINALLY made it to dinner, this was so necessary:

We went to Seoul Taco, which was a Korean-Mexican fusion. I got a bowl with chicken and brown rice; there was no fusion in this though—it was all Korean flavors!

So good!

Then, we made our way to Creepyworld, a haunted house. I had never been to a really legit haunted house, so I didn’t really know what to expect, or how I would react!

We waited in line for 1-1.5 hours before finally going in.

This was intense! It took us over an hour to walk through everything! It was really cool. There were 12 different areas with different decor. There were plenty and people and props ready to jump out and scare you! I had a good time, but apparently I’m not too easily scared!

But what was supposed to be a reasonably early night turned into a 12:30 bedtime. My alarm felt far too early before my 8am spin class on Saturday!

Before spin, I had a bowl of Cinnamon Apple Cheerios. I’ve never been much of a Cheerio person, but I’m loving them pre workout right now!

Class went well! Afterwards, I made a Flapjacked muffin and had some fruit on the side.

And then, I was off to see my zoo friend play lacrosse! Somehow I forgot to take any pictures. I’ve never watched lacrosse before and it was fun to watch! She of course rocked it too, even though they lost (it was a close game!).

On the way home from the game, I got some groceries to prepare for my night and for my trip. And because I had no vegetables.

For lunch, I had an egg white scramble with spinach and laughing cow, and avocado toast.

I spent the afternoon packing and doing chores, and prepping sangria.

Here we have jazz apples and raspberries soaking in vodka.

For the wine, I found Robert Mondavi on sale. Remember when I visited that winery in the spring?

We had such a hard time opening the bottle with a pocket knife corkscrew. And then opening the martinellis.

For the sangria, I mixed the fruit with Sauvignon Blanc and sparkling apple cider.

I was adamant about dressing up.

Unsurprisingly, I was a baseball player. My friends were a lax bro and a rugby player. Then, it was on to haunted house number 2, Darkness in Soulard.

I thought this one was scarier than the last one, although not quite as extensive. There were lots of well hidden people ready to pop out at you, and the scariest part was it was so hard to tell what people/bodies were real or fake!

The next stop was Ballpark Village.

There was an event going on, and we just wanted to watch baseball/hockey, so we didn’t end up going in. Instead, we opted for froyo (or in my case, frozen custard) at the fudge place.

And then we headed back to my friend’s place to watch scary movies. I was home by 11!

Can I confess something? I really can’t bring myself to root for the Cubs. I really want to root for them. I do like the players. But in my heart I can’t. I hate being a sore loser, but after being the lone Giants fan in Chicago, it’s become ingrained to fervently root against them.

Oh well. I’m still enjoying watching the World Series!

What were you for Halloween? Who are you rooting for?

I love holidays. I love love love holidays, and I love love love Halloween. I’ve been essentially planning my Halloween party since last year’s, and things came together quite well!

Unfortunately, I woke up yesterday feeling off. I still made it to our Halloween Crossfit workout, but was starting to feel it in the afternoon.

Crossfit was not one to be missed though. I’ve been a baseball player for the last 6 years, so it gave me a chance to break that out again!

Lots of people dressed up, and we had a Paleo potluck afterwards (which I did not stay for). The workout was a good one-it involved actual pumpkins for goblet squats and russian twists, and I respect that.

(Photo not mine)

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to take it easy, but also cleaning and preparing for the party.

A few hours before the party, I started the process of making sangria by soaking the fruit.

Cranberries+raspberries.

We had lots of delicious fall-themed food, and my roommate did an amazing job of arranging everything.

Lots of cheese and crackers, chips and dip+salsa, fruity candy corn, pumpkin bread/muffins, cookies, truffle popcorn (delicious by the way), and of course candy!

I had a rocking playlist thanks to the fact that I teach spin and know every song ever. Decorations were rather extensive-I actually used a cool idea I found on the internet and it worked fantastically!

You put a glowstick inside a balloon, and then draw a face on it! The balloons also offered a bit of extra light so we didn’t need every single light on.

The best part of the party? Dry ice. It’s not a Halloween party without a dry ice punch bowl. Plus, it keeps the punch cool and fizzy!

For the sangria, I mixed up the vodka soaked fruit with some chardonnay and sparkling apple cider.

I was trying to figure out how to get it cold without watering it down with ice…and then I remembered-duh-I have 2 huge bricks of dry ice, so I dropped a piece in.

Also-I totally used my space blanket from the Nike Half as a tablecloth. #college

As for my costume-this year I was a cat! Haven’t been anything but a baseball player in forever, so that was exciting. I feel like a cat would be a cliche costume for anyone except me!

Also-here’s a little throwback to the last time I wore these ears: